﻿TEACH YOU, TEACH ME: A RESEARCH ON THE PRESENCE AND POTENTIAL FOR ALTERNATIVE USES OF TECHNOLOGY IN EVERYDAY LIFE

Make me eclectic! festival will feature a series of workshops on building and using different DIY devices, with a critical reflection on the presence of technology in public space. The workshops are intended for tech-savvy women and girls but also enthusiasts of all genders with no previous knowledge. Artists and activists gathered around independent, self-organised initiatives will teach a wide range of subjects, from listening to electromagnetic waves to the use of satellite signal for GPS and solar energy. Through one and two days workshops where “everyone teaches everyone” We will play with the potential of alternative uses of technology in everyday life.

The main goal is to question what is given and imposed by the technology, through an approach on the intersection between technology, art and activism. The workshops are meant to enable and encourage the participants to work with everyday technology and adapt it to their needs. They are not expected to show high technical literacy but curiousity to get to know and possibly modify technology that is available to everyone.

The target group are primarily girls with an experience in some kind of activism and an interest in art and technology. It is expected from the participants to share the interest in ‘breaking the box’ and ‘looking inside’, and to have an affinity towards learning new skills. One of important outcomes of this programme will be to create and strengthen a network that would connect the ones who are active on this scene. Through this network, we expect to be able to can support each other even long after the events have ended.
The workshops will take place over the course of 3 days in 2 Rooms in the Museumsquartier. The main programme is meant for women and transgender only. The Evening programme would be open in its parts for participation of everyone interested.

Mz Baltazar’s Laboratory is a weekly event taking place in Vienna (Austria), specifically for persons who call themselves women or trans. If you love to make things, rather than consuming them, meet up at Mz Baltazar’s to share your skills. Mz Baltazar’s participants come from different backgrounds, ages and mindsets to exchange equipement, build circuits, play with DIY electronics and interactive art. We encourage each other to learn new tools and collaborate. All workshops are free in order to offer a fearless, accessible plattform. We capture the mainly male connotated domain of electronic tinkering. The artwork created at Mz Baltazar’s Laboratory is generated with Open Source Soft- and Hardware. Through the process of demythifying technology we enable ourself to use our creativity in and autonomous, self- determined and pleasurable way.
Mz Baltazar’s Laboratory sessions also take place within the framework of different Media Art festivals such as the Transmediale in Berlin and at different Art Universities such as the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna.